Hill Tribes and Tropical Beauty at the Lisu Lodge: Where to Stay in Chiang Mai Thailand

Chiang Mai’s lush tropical landscape and cultural intricacies make it one of the best places to visit in Thailand. The forested hills of Chiang Mai province are home to several hill tribes Thailand is famous for, including the Hmong, Akha, and Lisu. Since these tribes live quite differently from most Thai people, the combination of unique cultural experiences and beautiful landscapes makes hill tribes Thailand experiences some of the best you will find in the country. Offering a culturally immersive hill tribe Thailand experience, the Lisu Lodge is a beautiful eco lodge built in the traditional style of the Lisu people combined with modern conveniences. Asian Oasis invited us out to check out the Lisu Lodge, and we were immediately blown away. If you’re looking for where to stay in Chiang Mai Thailand, the Lisu Lodge is unique in its beauty, cultural activities, and community work! We recently enjoyed a stay full of peace and relaxation at the Lisu Lodge, and can add it with certainty to the ranks of top Chiang Mai Thailand hotels.

Where to Stay in Chiang Mai Thailand for Beauty & Culture

Less than an hour from Chiang Mai, you will find yourself surrounded by the verdant hills and fields of rice and tobacco that the Lisu Lodge calls home. The four guest cottages (and 22 rooms) of this Chiang Mai hotel are each lovingly and beautifully crafted in the traditional thatched bamboo style of the Lisu people. But beyond a mere ordinary Chiang Mai hotel, the Lisu Lodge offers a full package: eco lodging, locally sourced foods, and culturally-immersive adventure activities to allow you to have the hill tribes Thailand experience, but with the edges elegantly smoothed for your comfort.

Lisu Lodge: One of the Best Hotels in Chiang Mai Thailand

For those looking for where to stay in Chiang Mai Thailand, the Lisu Lodge offers impeccable detail and thoughtfulness in making a beautiful area of respite for its guests. The cottage that we had the pleasure of staying in featured a spacious veranda that overlooked the Lisu Lodge’s expansive property, easily making this one of the best hotels in Chiang Mai in our experience. Sitting on the veranda at the Lisu Lodge and enjoying the view is alone a reason to visit Chiang Mai! Overlooking expansive rice paddy views and exquisite greenery, the Lisu Lodge’s verandas without a doubt contribute to this eco lodge’s standing as one of the best hotels in Chiang Mai Thailand.

Best View of All the Chiang Mai Thailand Hotels

The Lisu Lodge is a place of beauty, and its views are sure not to disappoint. We enjoyed two lovely meals on the veranda, each made with ingredients either from the Lisu Lodge’s gardens or otherwise locally sourced. For me, my favorite moments at the Lisu Lodge were at night, after the other guests in the cottage had left. Sitting out on the veranda, I reveled in the sounds of the quiet northern hill tribes Thailand countryside, leading me to smile, knowing that we were right about where to stay in Chiang Mai Thailand. One other surprise favorite experience I had was joining in the local hill tribes Thailand dance show on the veranda. I’m not much of a dancer, but I couldn’t help joining in with a smile.

A Hill Tribes Thailand Community-Based Project

The Lisu Lodge is owned and operated by Asian Oasis, which is committed to working closely with local people to create sustainable community-based tourism while also striving to protect the natural environment. This initiative makes the Lisu Lodge by far a standout among Chiang Mai Thailand hotels. As part of Asian Oasis, the Lisu Lodge dedicates itself to improving the lives of the local hill tribes Thailand people. If you’re looking for where to stay in Chiang Mai Thailand while also meaningfully contributing to local lives and limiting your impact, then the Lisu Lodge is a wonderful option. The Lisu Lodge not only employs people from the local hill tribe village, but also makes a monthly contribution to the community-owned Village Bank. The funds from this bank are used each year to improve the lives of the local hill tribe villagers, in ways including education, healthcare, and job opportunities. Unlike many Chiang Mai Thailand hotels, the Lisu Lodge directly helps to better the lives of the local hill tribes Thailand people.

A Unique Hotel in Chiangmai Province

Something that struck me as very unique about the Lisu Lodge is the fact that the staff of this hotel in Chiangmai have no prior hospitality experience. They are local hill tribes Thailand people, and the fact that they have a job at the lodge offers evidence of the impact Asian Oasis makes on the local community. It is special that this Chiang Mai accommodation has chosen to give back directly to the community by working so closely with them and making their well-being a priority. It’s this responsible and empowering attitude toward the community that makes the Lisu Lodge, in our opinion, one of the best hotels in Chiang Mai Thailand.

A Visit to a Local Hill Tribes Thailand Village

Your hill tribe village Chiang Mai experience is not limited to enjoying the Lisu Lodge itself. Each visit to the lodge also includes a guided tour of the nearby local Lisu village, providing visitors with a unique window into the local way of life. This village is one of those local places that is off the main Thailand tourism radar, making this experience unique among other Chiang Mai Thailand hotels. Highlights of the tour included a visit to the local shaman’s house and the local village temple. If you’re looking for where to stay in Chiang Mai Thailand while still retaining authentic local culture within reach, here it is. Not many Chiang Mai Thailand hotels can boast that they’re within a stone’s throw of a beautiful local temple, can they?

Taking Care of Its Local Environment and People

Near the temple is the village garden, planted with local medicinal plants. The garden belongs to all villagers, and anyone can come and pick whatever plants they need, another example of the Lisu Lodge’s commitment to helping the people of this hill tribes Thailand village. You’ll also enjoy small touches of daily village life, like chickens running here and there and learning about the little roadside herb gardens tended by the villagers. Now, we know what lemongrass looks like (you’ll be surprised!). It’s little things like this informative village tour that make the Lisu Lodge one of the best hotels in Chiang Mai.

Visiting the Araksa Tea Garden

In addition to the village tour, the Lisu Lodge can also organize many activities in the surrounding area. For one of our Lisu Lodge activities, we visited the nearby Araksa Tea Garden, one of the oldest tea plantations in Thailand. Operated by the Lisu Lodge, Araksa produces high-quality tea without the use of pesticides. Interested in where to stay in Chiang Mai Thailand while having a blast and learning a ton? If you visit the tea plantation, you’ll learn so much about the tea growing and production processes, while being entertained by the joyful guide Charlie. The Araksa tea plantation employs many local Lisu women who work picking and processing the tea, and it’s fascinating to learn about how they do it all, especially the hand roasting of the tea.

Picking Green Tea: A Unique Chiang Mai Travel Experience

We even got to pick some tea ourselves after learning which leaves are the right ones for fresh green tea. You really gain an appreciation for how hard the local hill tribes Thailand people work when you realize how much tea they pick in a day! You’ll also get to enjoy some of the delicious tea that Araksa produces, and have the chance to purchase some high-quality tea to take home as well.

Day Trips from Chiang Mai: Activities with the Lisu Lodge

The Lisu Lodge also can arrange a variety of other activities, including some of the best places to visit in Thailand. These trips include biking tours, river rafting, and ox cart tours of local villages, all providing more exciting reasons to visit Chiang Mai. In addition, multiple day treks can be arranged to visit some more remote areas for those looking for a deeper hill tribes Thailand experience. With its multitude of treks and activities, the Lisu Lodge is easily one of the best hotels in Chiang Mai!

Responsible and Environmentally-Friendly Travel

If you’re looking for where to stay in Chiang Mai Thailand and responsible, community-based and environmentally-friendly travel is important to you, then the Lisu Lodge is a perfect solution that ticks all these boxes, while still being incredibly beautiful, comfortable, and clean. A variety of factors combine to make the Lisu Lodge one of the best hotels in Chiang Mai. Our personal favorite aspect of the lodge is its commitment to the local people, and how well integrated the lodge is with the village. The combination of beautiful nature and unique village cultural experiences combine to make the Lisu Lodge an easy answer for where to stay in Chiang Mai Thailand, and a sure standout above all Chiang Mai hotels throughout the province.

One of the best parts of Thailand tourism is interacting with the local people, and no Chiang Mai travel is complete without a visit to the hill tribes. As an added bonus, some of the best hotels in Chiang Mai are right in the midst of this cultural and natural landscape! We enjoyed every moment of our stay at the Lisu Lodge, whether it was enjoying the verdant view from the veranda, learning little details about the local way of life, learning how to pick tea, or enjoying delicious Thai meals. Those looking for peaceful excursions with the perfect combination of nature and culture will definitely place the Lisu Lodge on the list of best Chiang Mai Thailand hotels. We certainly did, too!

Disclosure: This post is a collaboration with Asian Oasis, but as always, all opinions are very much our own!

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We're Lauren and Ben, a couple of LA natives (one writer and one Jeopardy! contestant) with a thirst for the world. We've caught a travel bug that we will never lose, and over the 35+ countries we've visited, we've racked up a ton of travel knowledge we want to share with you all!

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